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AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE HONORS BMW WITH TWO ALL-STAR AWARDS AND TWO ADDITIONAL AWARDS IN ANNUAL SURVEY 01/21/2004

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - January 21, 2004 ... Automobile Magazine presented BMW with two All-Star awards in the February 2003 issue. In the annual Automobile Magazine feature, the BMW 3 Series captured "Best Luxury Car Under $40,000" and the BMW M3 was garnered "Best GT." BMW models have earned a place among the prestigious Automobile Magazine All-Stars list thirteen years consecutively, during which time BMW has received a total of 49 editors' and readers' "All-Star" awards. In the January issue of Automobile, BMW also earned "Technology Of The Year" for its Active Steering system offered on the 2004 5 Series and 6 Series, and "Racing Car of the Year" for the WilliamsF1 BMW FW25 Formula One racecar.

For the twelfth year, spanning two model generations, the BMW 3 Series earned another All-Star award: Best Luxury Car Under $40,000. Automobile Magazine wrote, "If you are intensely aware of the difference between what is simply good and what is genuinely excellent, if you love to drive yet are constrained to run a four- or five-seat vehicle...then BMW 3-Series cars are the perfect answer." BMWs best-selling offering, the 3 Series, is available in Coupe, Convertible, Sedan and Sports Wagon versions.

Automobile Magazine editors also gushed over the high performance M3, declaring it "Best GT". "The latest M3 has everything we like about cars-speed, handling, braking, good looks-just the way we like it, in ludicrous quantities. Deeply sporty, edgy even, it is luxurious and relentlessly smooth, yet blindingly fast..." The 2004 M3 Coupe is also distinguished by retaining the highest percentage of its original value in 2009, among all cars, in Kelley Blue Book's recent ranking of resale value.

The February issue is the second issue in a row to offer BMW accolades from the editors of Automobile. In the January issue, BMW was recognized for its leadership when the editors awarded BMWs Active Steering as "Technology of the Year" and BMW Williams FW25 as "Racing car of the Year." Exclusive to BMW in the U.S. market, Active Steering electromechanically varies the steering ratio on the basis of vehicle speed and other driving conditions. The variation in steering ratio is much greater than is achievable by purely mechanical means, so that steering-wheel movements required in parking maneuvers, U-turns and sharp low-speed corners are significantly reduced. On Active Steering, Automobile's Don Sherman wrote, "What started out as an intermediate step on the path to steer-by-wire guidance ended up as the greatest leap ahead in handling since anti-roll bars."

The 2003 Formula 1 race season had a little of everything in store for BMW-stunning victories, surprising turns of events, even bitter disappointments. "For us, it was up one minute, down the next", admits BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen, "but overall we can look back on a successful season: in Formula One we fought for the Constructors' title right until the end - we have never been so close to our big objective." Automobile's Michael Jordan applauded the car that contributed so much to this success: "The Williams FW-25 went from zero to hero in the 2003 F1 season."